Scarlet Moon
by Forlorn Bloom
Summary: Sakuya recounts the day she met Remilia and the other residents of the mansion talk about their lives before Gensokyo.


I had heard rumors of vampires in a town I was visiting. Naturally this piqued my interests. I did have to make money some way after all, and this was my calling. I looked over at my assistant, and we asked about the vampires. We found out a few interesting things. First, was that the people called them "Devils" which, I had thought was a little strange, second they lived in a mansion, and finally there were three of them. We'd taken down whole broods of vampires before, so three was not going to be a problem for us. We offered to take the job, set our price, and set out. At the time, I was shocked with how much they were willing to pay, now it seems like they didn't give me enough.

We scoped the mansion daily. We didn't try to hide, they couldn't get us, and with the small number of them it'd be better to have a home field advantage. We mapped out their territory and we set out for the kill.

We entered the mansion at 12, this gave us enough time to look around the outer halls and stay near windowed rooms. By 5 we had our strategy all planned out. As usual my assistant was worried about the Italian orphan we picked up along the way (her story is a lot less interesting), but I reassured her that it was another simple job.

Sunset. We watched the sun go down outside, have them come to us. Two of them came out, demonic wings unfurled as they swiftly flew toward us, fangs at the ready. We looked at each other and smirked.

This is the part I regret the most. I still can't believe what happened. It turns out that there was a difference between vampires and Devils.

They were a man and a woman. A nice couple under different circumstances. Usually when confronted with two attackers we would split and make it a competition, whoever took theirs down first would win an arbitrary award. It was usually me, I mean I cheated a little, but we never established any rules. I took the woman and she took the man. As I lead my target off I saw flashes of color, "That's my girl at work" I said to myself. I stopped, and so did everything else. The whole world turned gray for a few moments as I took this opportunity to catch my breath and set up a surprise for my target. When everything was back the woman had found herself with one of my specially crafted silver blades between her eyes. I looked over and saw a bright flash and heard the gust of the Devil's ashes being blown away.

We met again at the entrance of the mansion. Her green uniform was covered in dust. I asked when she'd get rid of that thing, but she told me it held too much value for her. I shook my head and we walked into the mansion.

As you can expect, the mansion was dark. Only lit by the eerily scarlet light of the moon. I lit the torch I had brought with me to light the way. We walked along the corridors being bombarded by bats and rats as they were trying to run away, but not from us. We had looked through what seemed to be the entire mansion. We were just outside the clock-tower when she came.

She seemed to glow crimson, highlighted by the scarlet moon. She came down like a butterfly and smiled viciously to greet us. Her dress, that appeared to be white, was now dyed vermillion. Her wings, hands, and face were covered in blood, and she was holding an ethereal spear. She stepped toward us and we got ready to defend ourselves.

"You know," she spoke with smugness through grinning fangs, "you upset the scales when you killed them." She continued advancing forward. "I just had to help them reach equilibrium. However, it really is a shame that I cared so much for my them and you just entered the village. There were so many people that could have lived if you had seen them as more than a few shillings. But there was one person that weighed quite heavily on your scale. A sick child. I would have enjoyed streaking her lavender hair with the blood of the innocent." she stopped. "But alas, the scales were even, unless of course, I wanted to make this really interesting. But I'd like you to see what it's like to fight fate."

She charged, almost a blur. The rain came down. My assistant used her Qi to shield us and then deflected the Devil. It all stopped. Rain drops stood frozen in the air, as silver as my knives. I threw them at her, and as things returned to normal she folded herself in her wings to protect herself. My assistant channeled her Qi and charged at her, almost flying, a dazzling rainbow to counter the countless shades of red. As the colors flew it seemed like the endless crimson would envelope her. Again everything went silver and the Devil landed a blow. My friend didn't move. She couldn't, after all, time had stopped around her. The Devil looked at me with a grin that made my blood run cold. She pranced forward on dainty feet, still with that grin, as I cautiously began to back away. As time came back I saw my friend receive the blow she had been dealt and she began flying toward me. Thinking quickly I grabbed her arm as she flew my way and threw her up into the air. She recovered her composure and as I threw an array of knives the Devil's way she manifested a kaleidoscopic downpour above the Devil.

As I watched to see if they would hit I hard an ear piercing cry that seemed to come from within my own head. I looked over and saw a blonde girl in front of the mansion crying and wailing in pain. The Devil jumped down from the mansion and went after the girl, as if we hadn't attacked her at all. I tried to tell the girl to run but she acted like she didn't hear me. I began to understand what she was crying out "Remi-Remilia!" I jumped down to rush after her and save her from the Devil that was fast approaching. Then the Devil hugged the girl and turned to me. She shot me a glare, that look of pain and pure hatred that I still see in nightmares. She began to approach me, slow and deliberate steps. She started growling and as she got closer I saw the blood red tears streaming down her face. When she was a few feet away she screamed "**WHAT DID YOU DO!**" she lunged at me and I barely dodged the attack. She started charging and swiping at me screaming unintelligible things. At times I thought I heard the word "sister" but I was too busy with the barrage of claws coming at me. At this point I wondered when my friend would come in and help me, and like a mind reader that flash of green temporarily smothered the Devil's crimson claws.

That night there were no blues or yellows or violets, only vermillion, emerald, and silver. The three of us spent several minutes exchanging and dodging blows until the blonde girl cannon-balled into the three of us seething madly. In a frenzy she clawed at everything and everyone, even the Devil had some trouble with her. Then suddenly she held out her hand and looked toward my friend, a small shining orb of light came from her and traveled to the girls hand. The girl smiled darkly as it grew closer, finally releasing a cacophonous laugh once it rested in her palm. As she began flexing her hand to close it she was launched into the air by an unseen fountain. As I watched the orb travel back to my friend I saw our orphan standing in the forest.

"I call that the Winter Element of Surprise" she joked through gasping breaths. At that moment I was utterly shocked to see her out of bed, let alone casting spells, but that shock faded shortly after she was impaled by an ethereal spear.

I turned to the Devil. She sneered and spat at me "The scales are even. Be gone." She turned and walked over to the unconscious blonde girl as I looked down in disbelief at our orphan's lifeless body. That's the moment I knew that I wasn't cut out to hunt vampires.

I walked up to the Devil, turned her around and slapped her straight across the jaw. "You can fix this. What must I do?" She looked me straight in the eyes and murdered my friend with another spear. Everything went gray and I approached the colorless blonde girl and brought one of my knives to her throat. "Fix this or I'll break her beyond repair." She scowled at me and held out her hand.

"You and your companions," she spat, "Must serve me, and should you disobey orders then you'll wish you had died tonight." I shook her hand and she back-handed me. "That's for the slap." As my vision tunneled to black I saw her walk over to my friends just before I blacked out.

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed with the Devil and my friends by my side. Through revealed fangs she spoke softly and slowly, "I've fixed what was broken, as long as you'll return the favor to me." She helped me out of bed and escorted me to the basement of the mansion.


End file.
